The Power of Going Viral
Imagine waking up this morning , grabbing your phone to check what’s going on in your different social platforms.
Suddenly, you saw a funny video, an inspiring story, or a headline that gripped your attention. You had a nice feeling after watching or reading through. Laughed to your heart’s content and that wasn’t all, you felt your friends need to feel the same and within seconds you’ve shared it to Kenny and Mark, your two best friends.
By the end of the day, it’s showing that millions of people have gone through it and are talking about it.
Now, that’s the power of viral marketing
For businesses, going viral can mean instant success as thousands of new customers would get to recognize their brand and possibly get skyrocketing sales through the recognition and purchase.
Should we call that luck? How does it happen, or is there a secret formula to making brands unforgettable once they go online?
In this post, we’ll uncover the secrets behind viral marketing and how you can use them to make your brand stand out.
Let’s dive in!
What Is Viral Marketing?
In defining Viral Marketing, it’s seen as a strategy where people share content quickly and widely and like a virus, it spreads across the Internet.
Now, the goal of any marketer is to create something that people will feel compelled to share with others, just like waking up this morning to see the post that moved you to share with Kenny and Mark.
It could be a funny video like a meme or a prank, an emotional story, a challenge, a controversial topic,a birthday post, or a unique product that you know your friends would need too.
It’s always an amazing sensation to brands especially start-ups when what they post goes viral.
How it’s Done
1. Know Your Audience
The first step in creating viral content is understanding your audience. Who are they? What do they like? What makes them laugh, cry, or take action?
For example, If your audience are teenagers, they might love trending challenges and memes. For parents, it would be heartwarming family stories that they would love to share with their kids, and if your audience are young professionals, they might share inspiring success stories.
It’s always better to know your audience, as this would make it easier to create contents that they will love and feel free to share.
2. Use Emotions to Your Advantage
What do people like doing? They can share contents that would make them feel something.
A content goes viral once it resonates with what the people have interest in. They would like, love and share it with others.
Studies have shown that the most viral contents that triggers strong emotions include:
🔥 Joy: Funny videos, jokes, or feel-good stories like a comedy from a popular comedian or a dance video.
😢 Sadness: Emotional videos or touching stories like when a football club misses to score a penalty
😡 Anger: Controversial topics that spark debate.
😲 Surprise: Unexpected twists or shocking facts
3. Keep It Simple and Easy to Share
The best viral content is simple and easy to understand. You don’t have to use big jargons when writing, making people confused on what message you’re trying to pass out.
People don’t share complicated ideas, they share things that are quick and fun, so don’t try to complicate yours.
Make it short and sweet like a 60 second video, add catchy slogans that can be easy to remember and share. Easy challenges like dance videos are also contents that spreads fast.
Always remember that the best viral content are those that are simple and easy to understand.
4.Be Trendy and Timely
Look out for fresh new ideas. Contents fade out so it’s best to keep it fresh. Jump on trends, know what’s trending.
Check for trending topics on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter for trending topics.
Use popular hashtags so people can discover your content and you can also create your own version of the trending challenge.
5. Make People Want to Participate
Your targeted audience does a lot in making contents go viral and it’s always best to get them involved.
So, if they can join in and create their own versions of the trend, they’re more likely to share it.
Create a challenge that’s fun for them to join, use hashtags campaigns that would be popular to share, then make it easier for them by creating templates that they can copy from.
Let’s take the #ShareACoke campaign by Coca-Cola. They printed peoples’ makes on the bottles, this made people very excited to find their names on the bottles and they were very happy sharing pictures of it online.
Make your audience get involved in your brand and they’ll love to share what you do.
6. Partner with Influencers
Social media Influencers know how they do their thing. They have huge audiences that trust them. If you’re a young brand, you could employ the services of social media Influencers.
When they help promote your brand, their followers will notice your brand. Especially when their audience is the right and best target for your product.
So, find influencers in your niche, give them the creativity to do their thing that is to promote your brand in their own style. Offer exclusive deals that the people would not want to miss out from.
Influencers have huge followers that trust them. If they promote your brand, their followers will notice.
It’s always nice to use a good hook in getting your targeted audience.
7. Use Strong Visuals and Good Storytelling
It’s natural, people remember stories and images more than plain text. Make your content visually appealing as visuals have a way of telling a great story at a glance.
Use bright colors and eye-catching designs, keep your text minimal. The design should do the talking.
Brands that use great visuals for their campaigns have very high chances of making the sale.
The better your visuals and storytelling, the more unforgettable your brand becomes.
8. Make It Shareable Everywhere
Now it’s time for sharing, yippee. Okay I know you’re excited but first your content should be easy to share on different social media platforms
Optimize it for mobile view as most people watch videos real fast from their mobile devices.
Use shirt captions that will make it easy for people to repost and you could also tag friends along and encourage them to tag their friends too
When your content is everywhere, more people will see it and share it and that’s good for your brand and business.
How to Make Your Brand Unforgettable
Conclusion: Make Your Brand Go Viral
Remember the question, is it just luck that makes contents go viral? Nah!
From what we’ve seen it’s not just about creating content, it should be content that people would love to share. It has to resonate with them.
We said you should know your audience, Make them feel something by triggering their emotions, keep it simple and easy to share, use hashtags and challenges that would encourage them to participate.
Influencers also know how they do their thing, you could use their service and don’t forget to employ nice visuals and stories that would interest your audience.
Your brand could be the next big thing on the Internet, it is nice to step out and act.